So, it's been a long time since I've posted here. Dean is almost 5 now. He'll be starting kindergarten in the fall. Scary, right?

One of the things about Dean is how smart he is about things. He integrates in formation in a fascinating way. The other day, at the mall, there was a kiosk that had various toys. They had a machine on the roof that filled bubbles FX fog. When you popped the bubbles, you got a little poof of "smoke". There were, predictably, many kids running around trying to pop the bubbles. They also had "guns" that blow bubbles when you pull the trigger. Dean quickly figured out that if you shot the fog bubbles with the regular bubbles from the gun, they'd merge, making larger bubbles. For the next several minutes, he ran around trying to make the bubbles bigger.

Today Dean had surgery for an undescended testicle due to a hernia. When he was born they noticed it, but felt it was better to wait and see if it corrected itself. Once he was 2 and above 25lbs, they decided it was time to go in and make sure it was in place. We were told to arrive at 9:30am and that the surgery would be at 11. When we got there they sent us to the waiting room for about 3 minutes, then back to the area where they do intake. We heard someone tell the nurse that they wanted to fast-track him and by a few minutes after 10 the anesthesiologist had already taken him back to start the procedure. They told us surgery would be about an hour and then we'd probably spend about an hour in the recovery area before they sent us home.

The waiting in this kind of situation is, of course, the worst part. We grabbed some food since we didn't want to eat this morning in front of him since he wasn't allowed anything, then we sat and read. About 11:30 they took us back to the recovery room where we discovered that sweaty, screaming, cranky little monkey that we love so much had pulled out his IV and refused to stop crying long enough to get his 02 sat where they wanted it. We finally calmed him down some. They moved us to a more private room and after plying him with television, stickers and popsicles, we were able to get him relaxed and they sent us home.

They said everything went as expected, and that the hernia was good sized but everything is as it should be. He'll take it easy for the next few days and stay home with Mama. Otherwise all is well.

In other news, we've got some pictures and such that need to be uploaded, so hopefully we'll take care of that soon.

Hey, look! It's a post that's reasonably close to on time. Dean is 20 months old, and he's is every bit the toddler. Only, without the toddling. More like running, jumping, climbing, ultra-compact-tornadoing. Which we enjoy... most of the time. That said, having him go visit grandma for a couple of nights this weekend was nice too.

He still doesn't have a lot in the way of "dislikes", but he definitely has things that are favorites. Carrots and apples are the best foods right now, and anything that's a "dip" (which includes soup). He cooks for us too. Mostly "pepper". This stems from one day when he was cooking with his pan and spoon, and was offering tastes to mommy and me and I said "Yum. Needs more pepper." Now, everything is pepper. We're getting into a better routine at nights. When he gets home from day care he feeds the kitties, then we do puzzles and watch "seeka" (musica). After dinner it's time to "essersize" with the WiiFit. He pulls out the balance board (his is made of a phone book wrapped in duct tape), and wants his "mote" and "nukuck" (nunchuck). After we do our exercise, it's time for "jammas" then "mesisin" (medicine) and "brush-brush" (which is teeth, as opposed to hair, with is only one "brush"). Then we read for a while. Usually the pajama book, the dinosaur book, the "ha-ha" book and the "gilla" (gorilla) book. Sometimes, 2 or 3 times each. Then it's off to sleep.

Yes, we've utterly failed as modern blogging parents. It's been several months since we posted last, and they've been a busy few months for a certain little monkey. There was, of course Halloween:

Dean was a scarecrow. Mommy put his costume together because everything made for kids his size, is made for kids aren't walking. It was widely acknowledged that he was the most adorable scarecrow ever.

Then, over Thanksgiving Weekend we went to visit Grandpa John and Grandma Yvonne. Dean also went to visit Hank for his first very first haircut. Hank was the barber who gave daddy his last professional haircut in 2002.

We went to Matt & Jackie's housewarming pajama party where Dean rocked out on the drums. Yeah!

Then there was Christmas and the snow!

And now, our little man is 19 months old. Holy cow how time flies. He knows several of his colors. Orange is a favorite right now. Does his puzzles. He feeds the kitties every night and brushes his teeth before bedtime. He helps mommy and daddy with their exercises and loves to read his books. Anything with doggies or dinosaurs is a favorite. He's good at cleaning up (although he's better at making the messes to start with, but aren't we all?) He loves coloring and never gets tired of having mommy and daddy draw kitties. So far the only food he doesn't like is grapefruit, but we think that's mostly because he doesn't understand why those oranges taste funny.

Seriously, where did the last few months go? Dean is no longer a baby by any stretch. As proof of this he's begun to identify other tiny people as "Beebee!". He runs. A lot. There's nothing quite like being in the kitchen when he gets home with momma, and he comes running into the kitchen shouting "Dada!". It makes any day better. So what's happened since our last update in June? (June? and now it's October?)

Well, for his 13 month pictures, we went formal.

And at 14 months, we had a picnic at the beach, organized by one of Nicole's friends. This group of friends seemed to be at about a 3-to-1 baby-to-grownup ratio. Don't ask me how this is possible, but the babies were everywhere. Dean got a kick out of all the "goggies" on the lakefront trail and though sand was great fun to play with (and not a bad snack at that.)

Also in August, we took a trip downtown to check out the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. After we were done at the museum we wandered down the lakefront, and to Millenium park. Dean played in the grass in front of the new bandshell and generously invited several others to join him. After that, he had his first encounter with "The Bean" (officially, it's "Cloud Gate", but that's only slightly more likely to catch on than "Willis Tower").

In September we went to Ohio for Habari Party 2009, where we had a lot of fun. Dean got to meet the people who are indirectly responsible for him. (An inside joke related to him being the Best Habari Swag Ever™). There was ice cream, a new ball, and "Pees-ah!". The bear didn't make the trip so we missed getting the comparison picture, but all in all a good time was had despite a bit of illness at the end of the trip.

At the end of September, Dean spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas. His first night away from momma and daddy. I think he took it better than we did. Although we had a fun night off, we were definitely ready to spend time with our boy when we got back together. We went to a petting zoo/pumpkin patch place called Johansen Farm and saw lots of animals,. Even petted some baby chicks. He sampled the pie... all of it and had some apple cider too. Dean went in the bouncy castle, rode the hayrack ride and the train, and led the way through the corn maze.

And now, here we are. Dean is 16 months old, and becoming quite the independent young man. He climbs on everything, and has a vocabulary well beyond his age, in both Spanish and English. His current favorite toys are a yardstick and any kind of ball (or bola) he can get his hands on. He knows where his belly is (just ask him) and he's as outgoing as ever. He's a great kid 95% of the time, which is a heck of a lot better than either of his parents.

Sunday, we took Dean to his first Cubs game. It's not his first baseball game, as we took him to a White Sox game last year (gasp!). But that hardly counts as he couldn't even hold his own head up well yet, and it was in a sky-box, and he couldn't even eat a hot dog. So, although that was a good time, and a heck of a party, I think we can safely say that this was Dean's first baseball game. (With apologies to the Olsons.)

We had fantastic seats, thanks to Alicia, and we saw a good game. Dean was tired, and being in the bright sun wasn't high on his list of awesome things, so he napped for the first part of the game. He ate grapes and drank his water while watching the people around him and making friends. It being a baseball game, hot dogs were required. Dean, having never had hot dogs before, seemed quite impressed with them and at almost half of one, with bun. Then he shared some of his hotdog with mom. He also got ice cream in a mini-helmet.

As the game went on, Dean got more and more into the crowd and the cheering. Towards the end of the game, when the crowd cheered, he would yell and clap along with them. When the game ended, he was greatly amused by the singing of "Go Cubs Go". Although we weren't able to arrive early or stay late to try to get autographs, there was an event at Nicole's work the next day where she was able to get Dean a hat signed by Milton Bradley, Jake Fox and Doug Glanville. So he's got quite the souvenir of his big day. Oh, and most importantly, the Cubbies Won!